Friday, April 24, 2009

Friday Rock Out - The Gandharvas' "Downtime"

You'll have to excuse us for going back to the 90's Can-Rock well once again, but we couldn't resist with this gem. This used to be a standard entry onto mixed tapes that we'd make for friends, and was usually the song that they didn't know but would ask about.

We like it because it sounds like a nice Canadian version of Jane's Addiction without the ostentatious preening. You may choose to dislike for the very same reasons.

We also like it because it's pretty kick ass lyrically. "Some just want to smear themselves across something beautiful..."

And don't forget to check in with Joanna at Hum and Chuck. Just because. You should.

Working over timeHaving squeezed every last bit of energy out of the Ack, we've given him the weekend off to spend with his family. Which means that we'll have to post something over the weekend just to keep you all entertained and interested. We can't guarantee what sort of quality you'll get out of us, given that we'll be at some level of drunkeness for most of the next few days. Bear with us...we're only one man.

For those of you who prefer the Ack's weekend takes to our own, you'll have to wait another seven days before he drags himself back into work. Sorry.

Good choice with the Friday CanCon! There's nothing wrong with The Gandharvas (also natives of my hometown).

Maybe save "Alive" for later in the season, when we need an uplifting video for Friday. I never pictured that song as strip club anthem, but now that you mention it ... I'm sure Candy/Mandy/Destiny/Fantasy/ all loved poledancing to it.

I don't know about that. There have been a fair number of Canadian bands that have received notice in the States lately: Arcade Fire, New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Metric, The Dears, Destroyer...

I guess the big difference between Brit-pop and Can-Rock bands is that the accents and the innate devotion to Morrisey make them stand out from our bands.

If you're an American and you hear the New Pornos, you could figure that they're from Portland or Seattle or LA or the Bay...there's nothing really that screams out "This band is from elsewhere".

Hence the name of the record label: Secretly Canadian. Which is an American label. It's all weird.

And it is more of a fluke than anything that we're into the Can-Rock for the past few weeks. For the month of July, it will be strictly bands from Montana.

I like OLP, although unlike many I prefer the later albums, and I miss Can-Rock down here in United Statesia. I was humming Someone Who's Cool on my bike ride home a week or two ago, and I'm sure it was the first time those feral cats had ever heard of Odds.